DMV supervisor convicted of creating fake licenses

WEST CHESTER — A former supervisor at the driver’s license center in Malvern was convicted this week for creating authentic driver’s licenses for wanted fugitives, according to the Chester County District Attorney’s Office.

Khalif Abdullah Ali, 44, was convicted on charges of identity theft, tampering with public records, computer trespass, and related charges. Ali was arrested last March for working with wanted criminals to help them obtain driver’s licenses using identity information of other members of the public.

“This case was about public corruption and a significant public safety risk,” said District Attorney Tom Hogan. “The defendant abused the trust of his position, using his government job to perpetrate a crime.

Hogan expressed concern over the seriousness of the crimes, as it allowed wanted fugitives to possess valid identification cards.

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“That crime put both law enforcement and the public at risk, as it set loose in society criminals, shielded by these seemingly legitimate driver’s licenses. A police officer pulling over one of these criminals would have no idea that he was dealing with a potentially dangerous criminal.”

One of the criminals who obtained a license from Ali was caught and testified against him at trial, but other licenses that Ali created are still unaccounted for.

According to a criminal complaint filed by state police, the investigation began in August 2011 after an unnamed victim received a duplicate driver’s license with someone else’s photo displayed. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation records showed the driver’s license had been modified by someone in the Malvern licensing center in May 2010.

Investigators then used facial recognition software to identify an additional license that had been modified to show the face of the same imposter. Both counterfeit licenses were obtained from the Malvern center, police said.

The imposter, who is not named in the complaint, was arrested by state police and sentenced to 2 to 5 years in prison, according to the complaint. However, he never told investigators how he obtained the licenses.

In response, PennDOT conducted an audit of both transactions that led to the counterfeit licenses. It was determined that the employee responsible for the forgeries never accessed state databases to verify the identity of the individual obtaining the licenses.

In November 2011, state police investigators were contacted by PennDOT officials who had obtained surveillance video from the Malvern licensing center that showed Ali distributing information from a PennDOT database to two men identified by police as Frank Smith Jr. and Tairek Thomas.

Police said the surveillance footage showed Ali manipulating state records at multiple coworkers’ desks to provide camera cards for the two men, allowing them to obtain driver’s licenses with their own photos but with someone else’s identity.